Friday, January 27, 2012

Soil Health: Level 1 - Introduction of Terms

Level 1 - This post is intended to introduce terms which describe the essential components of a healthy soil. This discussion is complicated, so we will provide increasingly detailed levels of information, at the risk of oversimplifying in the beginning. Next week look for Level 2 - Description of Terms.

All plant varieties, found on earth today, evolved to thrive in a soil system filled with variety. Ancestral soils teamed with a variety of organisms and carbon compounds, which supplied abundant nutrients and water. What does a varied soil system look like when compared to a conventionally managed soil system?

A varied, or healthy, soil system contains the following essential components:

Carbon Compounds:

Labile Carbon:

Carbons which easily decay, such as those present in microorganisms, compost, crop residues, manures, and mulches.

These materials release mineral nutrients back into the soil.

Recalcitrant Carbon:

Contains Humic Acids which are essential to a healthy and productive soil, Humic Acids are known commonly as Humus.

Humic Acids endure the stress of time and will remain in an undisturbed soil for thousands of years.

Humic Acids improve soil structure, for as long as they remain in the soil.

Humic Acids increase a soils capacity to hold water more than any other soil component.

Both Labile and Recalcitrant Carbon levels are often very low in conventionally managed soils systems, because the pipeline of their formation has been compromised.

Our most precious natural resource, healthy top soil, is disappearing at alarming rates. For generations modern soil management practices have systematically reduced the diversity of soils, resulting in reduced yields. To compensated chemical fertilizers have been added, the detrimental effects of which have reared their ugly, ineffective and costly head.Stay tuned for Level 2.